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3232Migraine and Its Ayurvedic Managementhttps://www.ayurdhama.com/migraine-and-its-ayurvedic-management/
https://www.ayurdhama.com/migraine-and-its-ayurvedic-management/#respondThu, 19 May 2016 06:15:50 +0000https://www.ayurdhama.com/?p=3350A migraine is a terrible headache that tends to recur and is often accompanied by a feeling of nausea. The pain is usually felt on one side of the head. One may experience flashing lights, zigzag lines, bright spots, partial loss of vision, or numbness or tingling in the hand, tongue, or side of the face. Moving around makes the headache worse. While no medical tests confirm migraine.
Many scientists think migraine is a vascular disorder caused by a tightening (constriction) and sudden opening (dilation) of the blood vessels in the head, neck, or scalp. Others believe that an abnormal release of neuro-chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin or noradrenaline may cause the throbbing pain of migraine. In Ayurveda, two conditions, known as Ardhaavabheda (meaning literally the unilateral pain) and Anantavaata resemble the classical migraine.

SELF GUIIDELINES
o Spread your workload evenly during the day to avoid highs and lows of stress at work or at home.
o Do not sleep excessively, especially during Sunday mornings and holidays.
o Do not get too tired.
o Eat at regular times, and do not skip meals.
o Do not eat or drink anything, you think brings on a headache.
o Limit the amount of tea, coffee and painkillers you use.
o Watch your posture. Try to keep your neck straight.
o Keep your muscles relaxed when you are not physically active. Try not to frown or tighten your jaw.
o Restrict your physical activities in hot weather.
o Avoid bright or flickering lights, loud noises or strong smells if they trigger headaches for you.
o Hold an ice-pack to your forehead or temples to reduce your pain.
o Lie down in a quiet, dark room.
o You could try keeping a migraine diary. Writing down information about your headaches and what you were doing when they happened can help you find out what triggers your headaches. Then you can avoid those triggers.

AYURVEDIC REMEDIES
• Godanti mishran in the dose of 1-2 tablets twice daily with lukewarm water controls migraine. Pathyadi kwatham, an oral liquid in the dose of 15 ml twice daily with equal water is a good remedy. Shirashoolaadi vajra ras is very useful in general migraine headaches.
• Preventive treatment pays dividends in the end but can seem to be difficult in the beginning, before it starts working. As a preventive treatment, you may be advised to take specific Ayurvedic medicines such as soota sekhara rasa, Mahaa-vaata vidhwansana rasa, Dasa-moolaarishta, Shad bindu taila, Chandanaadi vati, etc. Once adequate headache control is maintained for at least several months, preventive treatment can be liberalised.
• This may mean experimentally adding dietary items, one at a time, gradually reducing the dosage of preventive medication, or eventually, both. In this way, the level of preventive treatment required to maintain long-term headache control can be determined.
• However, in the long run, it’s the elimination of dietary triggers which is a crucial step in preventing migraine.
• Drop some ghee, medicated with saffron flowers (kesar) into each nostril and inhale deeply.

DIET & LIFESTYLE ADVICE
• Have warm and easily digestible foods, boiled and steamed vegetables, soups, vegetable juices, porridge, brown rice and whole-wheat flour.
• Eat fruits like apples, papayas, mangoes, grapes and pears.
• Buttermilk, salads, and boiled rice sautéed with cinnamon, cumin seeds and garlic or asafetida are good in the daytime.
• Also, 5-6 almonds or walnuts and some raisins can be eaten each day.
• Avoid refined, oily, spicy, cold and stale food.
• Avoid yogurt, especially at night.
• Avoid working for long hours continuously; take short breaks. Have a good night’s sleep in a dark room.
• Avoid overexposure to cold or hot weather. Cover your head with an umbrella, or wear a hat or cap when you go out.
HOME REMEDIES
• Apply a paste of ground clay or sandalwood powder mixed with rose water for relief in burning sensation with headache.
• Grind 10-12 grains of black pepper and 10-12 grains of rice with water to make it a paste. Apply this paste on affected area of the head for 15-20 minutes.
• Mix ¼ teaspoon of clove powder with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon oil. Apply this paste on the affected area for 20-30 minutes.
• Take the juice of Tinospora cordifolia (giloy), in doses of 10 ml with honey.
• Apply a paste made of black pepper and rice with the juice of bhringaraaja to the forehead. Alternately, you can apply the paste of sandalwood also.
• Take three grams of coriander seeds, five grams of lavender flowers (ustukhudusa), five seeds of black pepper, and five badam. Grind with water, sieve, and take before sunrise. Soak badam overnight in water and remove the skin before preparing the paste.

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder among the affluent in our country. At any given time, approximately 40 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men report that they are presently trying to lose weight. Lot of money are spent every year on weight loss treatments. Still, with the current medical treatment, the failure rate remains to be high. And in most cases, there is a strong tendency to regain weight; about one-third of lost weight is regained within a year, and almost all within five years.

According to one study, by 2010, an estimated 130 million people in Asia-Pacific region will be suffering from obesity as a result of change in lifestyles, which involve less exercise and more food.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,

More than 2 in 3 adults are considered to be overweight or obese.

More than 1 in 3 adults are considered to be obese.

More than 1 in 20 adults are considered to have extreme obesity.

About one-third of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are considered to be overweight or obese.

More than 1 in 6 children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are considered to be obese.

Why do some people stay on a diet of burgers and fries, while others gain weight eating brown rice and vegetables?

The answer is that people react differently to various foods, depending on their metabolism! Just like fingerprints, each of us has a unique metabolism—which is how we convert food into energy for running the body’s processes. In fact, many chronic illnesses may be simple symptoms of an underlying disturbance in metabolism. Your body type could be the key to your health.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity is a condition of the body, characterised by over-accumulation of fat under the skin and around certain internal organs. Sthaulya is the ayurvedic term for it. It is often referred to as Medoroga, as the medas or fat is the main cause for this condition.

According to Ayurveda, there are seven basic tissue elements in the human body known as dhaatus. These are present in every human body in a particular proportion, and any change in their equilibrium leads to diseases. Fat or the medas is one of these seven dhaatus.

Like other dhaatus, medas also serve many purposes. The most important one being, it helps to create and maintain body heat, without which life would be impossible. It also acts as a cushion to protect the deep, delicate organs and tissues from shock, injury etc. Besides these factors, it is essential in filling up many hollows, rounding out the sharp angles of the skeletal structure of the body, by bringing about distinctive lines and curves so fundamentally necessary to a beautiful form.

The degree of obesity in a person is dependent on the accumulation of fatty globules or cells. As long as the accumulated fat remains stored up as adipose tissue, it does not harm, however inconvenient it may be. But when it begins to enter into the cellular elements of the body, especially the muscles, it becomes a source of danger.

There is a simple test to know whether you are obese or not. Just pinch a fold of flesh on your abdomen. If it is more than two inches thick, you are accumulating more fat than is needed.

One cannot expect to enjoy and maintain good health in a state of excessive obesity. It leads to sluggishness, heaviness in breathing and lethargy, keeping us from physical in-activity and causing serious malfunctioning of various organs. When such a stage is reached, obesity is considered a disease. That is why it is said, “Your waist line is your life line”.

Excessive obesity is caused by heavy intake of sweet, cooling and unctuous food, want of physical exercise, abstinence from sexual intercourse, sleeping during the day, lack of mental exercise and last but not the least—heredity.

Ayurvedic concepts regarding the course and cause of disease are quite interesting.

The obstruction of the fat, the movement of food is confined to koshtha (abdominal viscera) resulting in the stimulation of the digestive power and absorption of food. The individual digests food quickly and becomes a voracious eater. In the event of disproportionate increase of fat, the body becomes vulnerable to many diseases. Owing to an excessive increase of fat and muscle tissue, the buttock, abdomen and breast become pendulous and the body strength becomes disproportionate to physical growth.

Obesity may be classified into different divisions. The commonest type is alimentary in origin. The person eats too much or does not exercise regularly. It is the question of proportion. With the same amount of food and more exercises, obesity would not occur. Very small quantity of surplus food taken every day for a long period will cause accumulation of fat in the body.

Some people are more prone to accumulate fat than others. Some can apparently eat excessively, with no exercises and yet show no tendency of putting on weight. This is due to the basic body type i.e., vata nature, pitta nature or a combination of both.

Often, the real cause of obesity is wrong eating habits and laziness, initiated in early life, at home. There is also a natural tendency to increase weight during the middle age, but this should be slight and gradual.

Lastly, obesity can also be caused due to alterations in the metabolic processes. In most cases, there is some disorder of one or more of the secreting glands. Treatment has no effect, and they must be treated according to the basal condition.

Sometimes, a person puts on weight after menopause. It may also arise after childbirth, due to overeating on part of the mother or due to inactive or sedentary life. Other causes are waterlogged condition of the body, intake of drugs, which produce changes in the tissues. Consumption of alcohol in large quantities is also responsible for accumulation of fat because many alcoholic drinks contain sugar and also because part of the body heat is derived from the alcohol and a corresponding amount of the starchy and sugary food is converted into fat.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (excess fat and inflammation in the liver of people who drink little or no alcohol)

Osteoarthritis (a health problem causing pain, swelling, and stiffness in one or more joints)

Some types of cancer: breast, colon, endometrial (related to the uterine lining), and kidney

Stroke.

Ayurvedic method of weight reduction

Depending on your body type, the medication varies. If you are diagnosed as vaata type, then purification procedures for vaata, like cleansing enemas, will be carried out. After this, you may be subjected to mild oil application and fomentation. Only minimum oil application is used for treating obesity, enough to protect the body from the heat of fomentation.

External oil application is carried out with oil containing hot herbs like calamus, ginger and mustard. Fomentation or sweating methods will be done externally or internally. External fomentation can be done by various methods, like whole-body fomentation via a steam box. After fomentation, oil enemas will be given followed by cleansing enemas. The latter usually contains a decoction of dasamoola, honey and salt, some specific herbs and water. However, most of the ayurvedic physicians prefer alternate oil and cleansing enemas and powder massages.

If you are diagnosed as kapha type, then for alleviating kapha, external massage with powders of agaru, calamus, ginger or mustard will be done. These substances help to remove excess fat deposited under the skin. They also help to restore the elasticity to the skin and improve complexion.

Treatment of aama, which is an important treatment modality, will be done by two methods—one by administering the herbs which remove aama (aama paachana) and secondly by increasing the conversion power of agni by giving substances that stimulate digestion. The herbs used for this purpose are dry ginger, black pepper, gudoochi, turmeric, cyperus, triphala etc.

· As far as the diet is concerned, you can use basmati rice, barley, green gram, red gram and horse gram.

· Honey is the only sweetener that is allowed while treating obesity, but it should be original honey, directly collected from honeycombs.

· Drink warm water instead of refrigerated water.

· For cooking purposes, use sesame oil or mustard oil with spices like turmeric, black pepper, ginger and rock-salt.

· Use vegetable with astringent, bitter and pungent tastes. If you are particular about your weight, then, fasting for one to two days a week or partial fasting and drinking fruit juices, warm water and honey, will be helpful.

· Avoid eating substances prepared with refined wheat flour like white bread, cakes, pastries and abstain from dairy products and sweets prepared from milk and sugar. You should also avoid cold drinks, alcohol and deep fried foods and non-vegetarian diet.

· Follow an active pattern of life by increasing work and mental activity. Staying up late at night is beneficial as well. You should avoid taking too much rest, sleeping during the day (particularly after meals), applying oil to the skin, and bathing with cold water.

· Whatever the ultimate cause of obesity in your case, the immediate cause is energy imbalance, and weight reduction can be achieved only by reducing energy intake or by increasing output, or by a combination of the two.

Ayurvedic Remedies

Following are the prescriptions to reduce overcorpulence:

· Diets and drinks that alleviate vaata and kapha and which can reduce fat.

· Basthi karma (ayurvedic special procedure resembling enema) with drugs that are sharp, ununctuous and hot. This is said to be very usefull in reducing kapha in term tha fat from the body.

· The famous powder massage of ayurveda that is udwarthana is very effective in reducing the obesity.

· The ayurvedic method to treat obesity is to go on a heavy and non-nourishing diet and drugs. For example, honey. Due to their heaviness, they minimize the force of the aggravated power of digestion and due to their non-nourishing nature, they help reduce the fat.

· . That is why, ayurveda, while describing the principles of therapeutics, mentions that ‘the physician must take into consideration the fact that drugs differ with respect to land, season, source, flavor, taste, potency, post-digestive effects and specification, and also that men differ with respect to their body, constitution, age, vitality, gastric fire, morbid tendency, proclivities, homologation and the state of disease. In other words, a more personalized approach is necessary while treating obesity.

Pointers

· There are no shortcuts to reduce fat, and if there is one, it could be fraught with many dangers to the heart, nervous system and internal organs.

· Reducing weight requires understanding, will power, patience and a desire to work at it, diligently and faithfully.

· Diet, systematic approach, exercise, massage with special herbal oils and powders , walk, Sveda karma (sweat bath) apart from the prescribed drugs, are some of the appropriate measures.

· Acquire health consciousness, not figure consciousness.

· Never skip your meal. Hunger can be controlled by taking three small meals a day.

· Don’t mistake ayurvedic lightening therapies (langhana chikitsas) for simple fasting. Indiscriminate fasting will lead to starvation, which is definitely a destructive measure.

· Complete absence of butter or oil in the diet for a long period is not advisable as it would lead to deficiency of vitamin A, affecting the eyesight. Also, complete stoppage of salt is detrimental to health. The body requires a certain amount of salt, unless one is on a raw diet. Excess of salt results in retention of water, not of fat.

· Pure protein or meat diet will amount to losing weight rapidly but it is bound to tax the depurating organs, especially the kidneys. The best diet in the long run is the one that is nutritionally balanced which includes vegetables as well, especially raw vegetables and fruits.

· Heredity does play a significant role, but obese families are usually the result of patterns that are taught, not inherited.

· Vyaayaama (special exercise) is definitely helpful in burning some calories but the most important factor is that it brings the body into shape and creates a general feeling of well-being.

· There are periods when there is no apparent weight loss. It involves a real adjustment of the water balance in the system. This is no excuse for terminating the treatment as this phase is automatically followed by weight loss, if one continues with it.

· Obesity is best reduced by omitting white sugar and starch from diet for some time.

· Many are in the habit of taking coffee or tea to satisfy their hunger. But they themselves contain sugar. So try to reduce the intake.

As we all are genetically different with different constitutions and patterns, we respond to treatments in many different ways. Hence Standard Ayurvedic Treatments are always individually formulated. This article is intended only for information. It is not a substitute to the standard medical diagnosis, personalized Ayurvedic treatment or qualified Ayurvedic physician. For specific treatment, always consult with a qualified Ayurvedic physician.

Ayurveda was developed in India about 4,000 years ago and is one of the oldest documented health care systems. It is a “life-science,” emphasizing health by integrating ayurvedic herbal supplements, diet, exercise, massage and life style. In Sanskrit the word Ayurveda literally means science of life (Ayur = Life, Veda= Science). The benefits of Ayurvedic medicine have been proven over centuries of use, and its methodologies are as applicable.

History

Ayurveda was developed in India about 4,000 years ago and is one of the oldest documented health care systems. It is a “life-science,” emphasizing health by integrating ayurvedic herbal supplements, diet, exercise, massage and life style.

Ayurvedic medicine was originally an oral tradition, taught and passed directly from teacher to student, who would learn and work side by side. The oldest written codification of Ayurvedic principles is found in the Veda. The fundamentals are then laid out in several major treatises, including the texts from Charaka, Sushrutha, and Vaghbhata. There are also numerous other smaller works, written over time to explain the various branches of Ayurveda, which include disciplines such as general medicine, pediatrics, ENT, Toxicology, and rejuvination. The beauty in the way these have been explained is that they rely on basic principles which can be applied practically in any day and age.

Ayurvedic philosophy indicates that everything in the universe is made up of 5 elements; fire, air, water, earth and space. Air represents all that is gaseous, earth represents matter that is solid, all liquids are represented by water, fire represents any matter that can transform.

In a human body, as in nature, these 5 elements co-exist in a way that is by and large harmonious and where no one element dominates another perpetually. For this to harmony to exist, there has to be a force that manages a relationship between the elements of nature. In paired relationships, the forces guiding them are called the doshas. The Doshas represent the “subtle energy” that combines and balances the characteristics of the two elements it influences. This force has to often combine and balance seemingly contrary forces such as Fire and Water under pitta. vata made up of air and space while kapha brings water and earth together. In addition to our bodies, everything around us has these Doshas.
Vata is the force behind movement; hence anything that moves or helps create movement is the responsibility of Vata. Pitta is responsible for digestion and metabolism of the body; taking the food we eat and transforming it into their most basic form for absorption by the entire body as nutrients. Kapha is responsible for the fluids that act as the lubrication for movement and as the glue that helps hold things together.

Every individual needs all three Doshas to exist since they each play a role in our body and mind. We normally exhibit greater characteristics of 1 or 2 of the Doshas. This unique combination of Doshas defines the person’s unique body type (or Dosha). The combinations could be Vata/Pitta, Vata/Kapha, Pitta/Kapha; for a total of 6 different combinations of these Doshas.

Most people are a combination of two. Although it is possible but unusual to have all three in equal proportions; or to be completely one Dosha. This combination of our Dosha known as Prakruti, is determined at birth and remains constant, by and large throughout the lifetime. When at their natural state of balance, our Doshas provide the strength our bodies need to prevent the conditions that may allow disease. When out of balance, the body’s loss of homeostasis permits health conditions and diseases to develop. You can learn more about each Dosha by visiting the pages for vata , pitta and kapha.

Doshas, Our Body and Disease

When the natural proportion, or balance of our Doshas is disrupted, illness can occur. Our Doshas can go out of balance due to toxin accumulation, stress, improper diet, poor habits and even the weather. Ayurvedic medicine’s philosophy emphasizes moderation rather than denial. We can be healthy by practising moderation within the realms of our body type. Denial can be just as unhealthy as indulgence.

Our dominant Doshas will determine the imbalances we are prone to. Vata predominance when imbalanced, will experience conditions relating movement or of parts that help move us around. Pitta imbalances will lead to disruptions of metabolic and digestive systems and also lead to inflammatory diseases. Kapha imbalances lead to obesity and related conditions; fluid retentions, pneumonia, etc.

Basic Principles of Ayurveda

Ayurvedic principles can be used to explain the complexity of not only health, but also the world around us, there are several simple basics that become the building blocks for everything else:

Ayurveda’s fundamental approach to well-being is that you must reach your unique state of balance in your whole being—body, mind, and spirit.

Ayurveda views the world in light of 3 constitutional principles vata , pitta and kapha.

The first line of defense in combating imbalances is to remove the cause of the problem. If the trouble-maker is out of the picture, the body starts being able to heal itself. For example, if pollutants are bothering your nasal passages and sinuses, rinse them out with a traditional Ayurvedic remedy, the nasya.

If there are any lingering imbalances after removing the inciting cause, then bring balance by using opposites.

Always support the DIGESTION POWER so that nutrition can be absorbed and waste materials can be eliminated.

Vata

Vata is Composed of air and space, vata is dry, light, cold, rough, subtle/pervasive, mobile, and clear. As such, vata regulates the principle of movement. Any bodily motion—chewing, swallowing, nerve impulses, breathing, muscle movements, thinking, peristalsis, bowel movements, urination, menstruation—requires balanced vata. When vata is out of balance, any number of these movements may be deleteriously affected.

Pitta

Pitta brings forth the qualities of fire and water. It is sharp, penetrating, hot, light, liquid, mobile, and oily. Pitta’s domain is the principal of transformation. Just as fire transforms anything it touches, Pitta is in play any time the body converts or processes something. So Pitta oversees digestion, metabolism, temperature maintenance, sensory perception, and comprehension. Imbalanced Pitta can lead to sharpness and inflammation in these areas in particular.

Kapha

Kapha, composed of earth and water, is heavy, cold, dull, oily, smooth, dense, soft, static, liquid, cloudy, hard, and gross (in the sense of dense or thick). As kapha governs stability and structure, it forms the substance of the human body, from the skeleton to various organs to the fatty molecules (lipids) that support the body. An excess of kapha leads to an overabundance of density, heaviness, and excess in the body.

Your body Constitution

Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through close attention to balance in one’s life, proper thinking, diet, lifestyle and the use of proper food. Knowledge of Ayurveda enables one to understand how to create this balance of body, mind and consciousness according to one’s own individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain this balance.

Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, each person has a particular type of energy—an individual combination of physical, mental and emotional characteristics—which comprises their own constitution. This constitution is determined at conception by a number of factors and remains the same throughout one’s life.

Many factors, act upon us to disturb this balance and are reflected as a change in one’s constitution from the balanced state. Examples of these emotional and physical stresses include one’s emotional state, diet and food choices, seasons and weather, physical trauma, work and family relationships. Once these factors are understood, one can take appropriate actions to nullify or minimize their effects or eliminate the causes of imbalance and re-establish one’s original constitution. Balance is the natural order; imbalance is disorder. Health is order; disease is disorder. Within the body there is a constant interaction between order and disorder. When one understands the nature and structure of disorder, one can re-establish order.

The key to Ayurvedic wellness and healing is the knowledge that health is not a “one size fits all” proposition. One must understand the unique nature of each person and situation, taking into account the individual, the season, the geography, and so on.

Each person has an Ayurvedic constitution that is specific to him or her, and movement away from that constitution creates health imbalances; if such imbalances are not addressed, Ayurveda says that illness may develop. So, the early signs of imbalance serve as a wakeup call to make gentle and natural shifts in behavior to return to balance—such as adjusting diet, modifying daily activities and taking herbal remedies for a time.

Determining your Prakriti—your fundamental balanced constitution—requires an assessment of your most natural state. Consider your physical structure as well as mental and emotional tendencies. Remember to think of what is most natural to you, rather than what you’re like when you are stressed or ill. Ayurveda says you can understand your basic nature and tendencies by understanding your balanced state.

Dosha imbalances (your Vikruti, or current condition) can manifest in various stages, from a general feeling of “something is not right” all the way to diagnosed illnesses with serious complications. To address this, Ayurveda presents a vast type of treatment modalities to choose from; but whatever the treatment, the goal is to reestablish your natural balance of doshas that is vata, pitta and kapha.

Ayurveda as a Complementary System of Healing

The basic difference between Ayurveda and Western allopathic medicine is important to understand. Western allopathic medicine currently tends to focus on symptomatology and disease, and primarily uses drugs and surgery to rid the body of pathogens or diseased tissue. Many lives have been saved by this approach. In fact, surgery is encompassed by Ayurveda. However, drugs, because of their toxicity, often weaken the body. Ayurveda does not focus on disease. Rather, Ayurveda maintains that all life must be supported by energy in balance. When there is minimal stress and the flow of energy within a person is balanced, the body’s natural defense systems will be strong and can more easily defend against disease.

It must be emphasized that Ayurveda is not a substitute for Western allopathic medicine. There are many instances when the disease process and acute conditions can best be treated with drugs or surgery. Ayurveda can be used in conjunction with Western medicine to make a person stronger and less likely to be afflicted with disease and/or to rebuild the body after being treated with drugs or surgery.

We all have times when we don’t feel well and recognize that we’re out of balance. Sometimes we go to the doctor only to be told there is nothing wrong. What is actually occurring is that this imbalance has not yet become recognizable as a disease. Yet it is serious enough to make us notice our discomfort. We may start to wonder whether it is just our imagination. We may also begin to consider alternative measures and actively seek to create balance in our body, mind and consciousness.

Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Remedies

Ayurveda offers a number of ways to balance doshas and find your well-being. The key is to find balance with a holistic approach—addressing mind, body, and spirit. Ayurvedic remedies draw on a number of modalities:

Diet modifications

Lifestyle and Activity adjustments

yoga , pranayama and asanas

Internal medicines

panchakarama treatments

Ayurveda encompasses various techniques for assessing health. The practitioner carefully evaluates key signs and symptoms of illness, especially in relation to the origin and cause of an imbalance. They also consider the patient’s suitability for various treatments. The practitioner arrives at diagnosis through direct questioning, observation and a physical exam, as well as inference. Basic techniques such taking the pulse, observing the tongue, eyes and physical form; and listening to the tone of the voice are employed during an assessment.

Palliative and cleansing measures, when appropriate, can be used to help eliminate an imbalance along with suggestions for eliminating or managing the causes of the imbalance. Recommendations may include the implementation of lifestyle changes; starting and maintaining a suggested diet; and the use of herbs. In some cases, participating in a Panchakarma treatment is suggested to help the body rid itself of accumulated toxins to gain more benefit from the various suggested measures of treatment.

In totally, Ayurveda addresses all aspects of life—the body, mind and spirit. It recognizes that each of us is special, each responds differently to the many aspects of life, each possesses different strengths and weaknesses. Through insight, understanding and experience Ayurveda presents a vast wealth of information on the relationships between causes and their effects, both immediate and subtle, for each unique individual.

The retina is the layer of light-sensing cells lining the back of your eye that converts light rays into nerve impulses. The impulses are sent through the optic nerve to your brain, where they are recognized as images.

With RP, cells in the retina called rods and cones die. With most forms of RP, rods — which are mainly in the outer regions of the retina and are responsible for our peripheral and night vision — degenerate first. When the retina’s more centrally-located cones are affected, the result is loss of color perception and central (reading) vision.

Retinitis Pigmentosa Causes

Retinitis pigmentosa is often hereditary (runs in families). If you or your partner has retinitis pigmentosa, there may be up to a 50 percent chance that you will pass it along to your children. Ask your ophthalmologist about genetic counseling if you are planning to have children.

The rate of progression and degree of visual loss varies from person to person. Most people with RP are legally blind by age 40, with a central visual field of less than 20 degrees in diameter. In some families with a certain genetic RP trait, males are more often and more severely affected; females carry the genetic trait and experience vision loss less frequently .

Retinitis Pigmentosa Symptoms

Retinitis pigmentosa causes slow loss of vision. Symptoms begin with decreased night vision and later progress to loss of peripheral (side) vision — creating a “tunnel vision” effect. Some people may also have difficulty identifying colors. The rate of vision change varies in different people depending on the genetic makeup of their disorder.

As night vision decreases, the ability to adjust to darkness becomes more difficult. You may stumble over objects in the dark, find driving at dusk and night difficult and see poorly in dimly lit rooms, such as a movie theater. While your vision during the day may be completely normal, your inability to see in dark conditions is considered “night blindness.”

In some cases, central vision may be affected first, making detail work difficult, such as reading or threading a needle. This may be referred to as macular dystrophy, because the central area of the retina, called the macula, is affected.

Ayurvedic management of Retinitis Pigmentosa:

Classical texts of ayurveda have considered congenital blindness under Adibala pravritta and Janmabala pravritta vyadhis. Also one of the feature of RP is night blindness. This is seen in Doshandya, Kapha Vidagda Drishti , Usna Vidagda Drishti , Nakulandya And Hriswajaadya. But most features are seen in Vataja Timira. So here mainly vatahara and rasayana measures should be carried out. To improve the acuteness of of alochaka Pitta , Grita pana, Sneha virechana and Sneha basti should be carried out. Ayurvedic treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa include ayurvedic treatments, the right combination of internal medicines and Kriyakalpa, which is decided upon a personal consultation, assessment and diagnosis of the affected. Tarpana, Putapaka has very important role in treatment of RP.

Common forms of Â Ayurvedic treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa include Snehapana ( intake of high quantity of medicated ghee in increasing order of quantity gradually) with Jeevanthyadi grutha , Mahathriphala ghrutha, Patoladi grutha, Nasya with Ksheerabala thaila , Madhookadi thaila, Ksheerabala 101 Avarthi along with Moordhithaila with Ksheerabala thailam , Anjana with Choornithanjanam, Usheeranjanam and Snehana putapaka. Thalam ( retention of medicated paste or oil right on the vertex ), Shirodhara (where herbal oil, medicated milk, medicated butter milk etc, are poured on the forehead in a specified manner), Thalapothichil (the application of herbal paste on the scalp of a patient) a are other treatment procedures which are usually doing for RP patient according their condition of illness.

Swarna Bhasma mixed with Jeevanthyadi gritha given 1tsp daily in empty stomach shown a very good result in patients of RP. With all these procedures it is possible to arrest the degeneration process. The active ingredients of the medicines provide nourishment to retina thus restoring the vision. It is seen in majority of cases that with this course of Ayurvedic eye treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa (R.P.), present vision status is maintained and also improved in some of the cases.